CAIRO, Sept. 22 -- In a fresh burst of verbal skirmishing, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 'wants to create a problem' with Egypt by expressing displeasure with recent Egyptian military exercises. 'I heard statements from Israel that they are worried about the maneuvers and because of its name and I am surprised by that,' Mubarak said. The 10-day military exercise, concluded last week, was named Badr 96 after the October 1973 operation in which Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal into what was then the Israeli-occupied Sinai peninsula, touching off the Yom Kippur War. 'Netanyahu wants to create a problem and I did not imagine he would do that,' Mubarak said at a meeting with senior officers at armed forces club in Cairo. Mubarak, who made his remarks after viewing video clips of the exercises, was apparently referring to reports in Egyptian and other regional media that Netanyahu had expressed dismay at the maneuvers as a measure directed against Israel. Mubarak said Badr 96 were routine 'defensive, training' drills that were necessary for the maintenance of the Egyptian army's fighting ability and skills. Armed forces of countries around the world, including Israel, conducted similar exercises, he said. 'The armed forces conducted Badr 93 three years ago in the days of (late Israeli prime minister) Yitzhak Rabin and the Israelis were not alarmed by them back then. So why the alarm now?' Mubarak said. 'If Netanyahu had concerns, he should have contacted us and we would have had a candid talk,' he said.
'There is a peace treaty between us and Israel and we fully respect our treaties.' Egypt's Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi told reporters last week the maneuvers were partially meant to train for confronting any possible Israeli nuclear attacks. Reports in Israeli press said Netanyahu spent much of his meetings with U.S. peace coordinator Dennis Ross last week complaining about Egyptian positions, including the maneuvers and a threat by Mubarak to cancel a November regional economic summit if Israel does not adopt a more flexible position on the peace negotiations. Badr 96, described as Egypt's biggest military exercise, involved units from most branches of the country's ground, air and naval forces. Mubarak's comments coincided with other sharp remarks published Sunday in Egyptian newspapers in which he accused Netanyahu of reneging on promises to honor the previous Israeli government's commitments to peace accords. The latest outburst of verbal warfare comes at a time when Egyptian- Israeli relations seem to be at a particularly low point. The Cairo- based Middle East Times weekly described these ties Sunday as taking a 'nose-dive' under 'a precipitous rise in political tensions and abusive rhetoric' between the two countries. Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel and it has played a key role in spurring peace talks between Israel and other Arab parties.
